I'm afraid I know nothing about AppleTV or the hacking scene other than to play mkvs on an AppleTV you need to install Perian...

So my question is this: Is it a reasonable assumption that in about six months Perian will have hacked its way into AppleTV 2.0? Or should I just go ahead and buy one now and stuff it away somewhere?

I know there is absolutely no way to know for sure, but what I'm asking is if people that are more familiar with it than I can GUESS whether or not there's a reasonable chance.

Plus if all else fails, I'm sure you can downgrade the firmware... right? *looks at iPhone*

Obviously, no one knows about Take 2. I suspect it will likely eventually be hacked, but who knows? The problem, as I see it, is that Apple may take an Itunes-ish approach to the software, with semi-regular software upgrades that are required to access the online features. I suspect that they will do this because they really want to protect their HD quality movie files that will be available for rent.

Although they can be hacked, it's tiresome to do so after each "update" and many less hardcore enthusiasts can't be bothered -- which forces them to go "legit", or stop upgrading at some point.

My suggestion is to get the Apple TV now. Right now you're guaranteed to get a box with 1.1 or 1.0 installed. The 2.0 upgrade will be software downloadable if you do decide to get it, and if not, you can stick with a hacked 1.0/1.1.

I'm in the same boat... I want something to replace xmbc... i bought a ps3 but was totally disappointed.

I'd like to be able to play movies via samba or the like... including all my divx/xvid/mpeg/mkv files(does it have enough cpu power to run 720p mkv?)... is this possible with the current appletv? Can perian be installed on the appletv or do I need to install fullblown osx on it?

Are the refurbished appletv's on apple's site a good bet to buy? Or is it too late already and the updated firmwares are shipping..?